Billy Graham Apologizes to Jews For His Remarks on Nixon Tapes

Published: March 3, 2002

WASHINGTON, March 2—
In President Richard M. Nixon's Oval Office, the Rev. Billy Graham did not mince words in describing his feelings about Jewish people and the news media: ''This stranglehold has got to be broken or this country's going down the drain.''

On Friday, Mr. Graham, 83, apologized for his words captured on audiotape 30 years ago. The conversation was among 500 hours of Nixon tapes released last week by the National Archives. Most were recorded from January to June 1972.

''Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon,'' Mr. Graham said in a statement. ''They do not reflect my views, and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks.''

In the conversation with President Nixon, the evangelist complained about what he saw as Jewish domination of the news media.

''No, but if you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something,'' Mr. Graham said.

In his statement, Mr. Graham distanced himself from those comments and said his legacy was one of working for stronger bonds between Jews and Christians.

''Throughout my ministry, I have sought to build bridges between Jews and Christians,'' he said. ''I will continue to strongly support all future efforts to advance understanding and mutual respect between our communities.''

The friendship between Mr. Graham and the president began in the Eisenhower administration, when Nixon was vice president.

Later in the conversation, when Nixon raised the subject of Jewish influence in Hollywood and the news media, Mr. Graham said, ''A lot of Jews are great friends of mine.''

''They swarm around me and are friendly to me,'' Mr. Graham said, ''because they know that I am friendly to Israel and so forth. But they don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to this country, and I have no power and no way to handle them.''